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“It’s maddening and sad to think that, not so long ago, women were banned from being fighters,” says Lauren Price as she prepares to face Natasha Jonas in a fascinating world welterweight title unification bout that headlines Friday’s all-female bill at the Royal Albert Hall. But, first, the Olympic gold medallist and world champion pauses to remember those who preceded her.
In August 1998, the British Boxing Board of Control were taken to court by Jane Couch, a professional fighter who had been forced abroad because women’s boxing was banned in her country. Bernard Buckley, the board’s solicitor, told the judge that “many women suffer from premenstrual tension which makes them more emotional, labile and accident-prone. They are too fragile to box and bruise easily.”
The barrister Dinah Rose demolished the boxing authorities’ ridiculous argument and Couch became Britain’s first licensed professional female boxer. “It shows how far we’ve come and we owe it to trailblazers like Jane,” Price says.
Her friend and sparring partner Cindy Ngamba, who won a historic first medal for the Refugee Team at the Paris Olympics last summer, was born in Cameroon three weeks after Couch’s landmark victory. “I’ve watched some videos of Jane’s fights and how the hell do people think that she is weak?” Ngamba asks. “No matter how many bruises she had, she just kept going.
“Look where we are now – with female fighters in different weight categories, from different countries, with different styles. They have the typical mindset of a boxer who is hungry and not afraid in the ring.”
Price pays tribute to other pioneers and includes Jonas, her 40-year-old rival, in the next group of female fighters who changed boxing. “I look at Jonas, Nicola Adams, Katie Taylor, Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields who all went to the 2012 Olympics. They’re trailblazers who led us to this all-female card at the Albert Hall. I’m lucky to be headlining it and me against Jonas is a great fight.
“Caroline Dubois is in a great fight [defending her WBC lightweight title against Bo Mi Re Shin]. Karriss Artingstall [Price’s former partner] against Raven Chapman is a great fight. Cindy is making her debut against the European champion, Kirstie Bavington.
“It’s massive for women’s boxing at an iconic venue like the Royal Albert Hall. To think Muhammad Ali boxed there [in a 1979 exhibition] is crazy. We still have a long way to go, but women’s boxing is getting there and I’m proud to be part of it.”
Price, Jonas and Ngamba also address the problems that undermine women’s boxing – from the lack of depth in each division to the fact that Saudi Arabia, which has oppressed women for so long, now controls the fight business. But before they confront these dilemmas, each carries a moving backstory.
Price was given up by her mum in Wales when she was three days old. She was brought up by Derek and Linda Jones, whom she called her grandparents even though they are not blood relatives. “My brother died two years ago,” Price says, “and at the funeral I said to my sister: ‘I was the lucky one who got away.’
“Both my parents are no good as they’re alcoholics and the life my brothers and sisters had growing up wasn’t great. If I wasn’t saved I probably would have ended up in care or worse. My brother was 39 when he died and he’d been in and out of jail. He had a sad life.
“My grandparents are two amazing people and so I thank my mother for giving me away to a better life. She took a beating every day, so she got rid of me. In life you get given chances and I believe you just need to dream and, if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything.”
Price became a kickboxing world champion and was capped by Wales as an international footballer before turning to traditional boxing. She is the unbeaten WBA world welterweight champion.
Her opponent holds the IBF and WBC world titles in the same division. Jonas also became, in 2022, the first woman to win British boxing’s fighter of the year. Jonas, like Price, had a testing childhood. “My mother had me when she was 15,” Jonas told me in 2023. “Before I was born people were saying the best thing to do is to abort me.
“It was just [three years] after the Toxteth riots [in 1981]. There were all these stereotypes but my mum instilled in me not to let anybody tell you who you can be and what you can do. If you want to do it, go and do it.”
Ngamba arrived in Bolton as a refugee and she describes how boxing transformed her life. “I was 11 years old, very shy and I could not really speak English. I had no friends. But I went to this youth club and my life changed. I saw a group of boys sweating and it looked as if there were flames coming out of their backs. They had just left the boxing gym.
“I went inside and it was boiling. I saw loads of boys sparring, skipping and shadow boxing. I knew nothing about boxing but it was so interesting. I asked the coach, Dave Langhorn, if I could join. He had never trained a girl and so I had to learn all the basics before, after two years, he allowed me to put on the gloves.”
Ngamba soon showed Langhorn she could absorb pain and fight back. “I really shocked him because I was the only girl and I held my own in sparring against the boys. I got accepted because, if I got hurt, I kept coming back. I was a proper boxer but it was lonely. If it was my period I couldn’t tell my coaches. I just had to get on with it.”
The 26-year-old is still classified as a refugee and, as a lesbian, she cannot return to Cameroon where homosexuality is a criminal offence. She is acutely aware of the ramifications for her now Saudi Arabia runs men’s professional boxing at the highest level. Stressing her disappointment, and suggesting she would fear for her safety in Saudi Arabia, Ngamba is supported by Price and Jonas.
“I’m gay as well,” Price says, “so I wouldn’t know what to expect if I went to Saudi. If the opportunity came up for a massive fight out there, I would speak to [her trainer] Rob McCracken and probably go. But it would have to be big. I’m hoping that they will put on bigger and better fights for women.”
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Would fighting in Saudi go against her principles? “It does,” she says before adding: “I suppose you’ve got to respect the country.”
Jonas is friends with Ngamba – “a fantastic person” – and says: “I totally understand Cindy’s standpoint. I remember when Callum Smith was fighting George Groves in Jeddah [in 2018] I wanted to go. But my trainer, Joe Gallagher, gave me a list of rules in Saudi. You had to be covered from neck to knee and be in the company of a man at all times. No public affection was allowed, so I thought I’d better not go than do something silly and end up in a Saudi jail for God knows what.
“When I first went to Riyadh a few years later I was pleasantly surprised that I was just seen as part of the team. No one looked at me any different because I was a woman. I know the history of Saudi but hopefully going forward it can change. It maybe won’t change in my time but hopefully it’ll change for females after us. Sport should be progressive and it should improve – like we’ve seen with female boxing here.”
All three women were surprised on hearing that Riyadh Season is a sponsor of the Albert Hall show. Their promoter, Ben Shalom, told me that societal changes in Saudi are “vast” and that “they’re a sponsor of the event just like Betfred or Everlast. In return for the exposure their brand will get, they’ll pay a fee.”
The future of women’s boxing is clouded because Saudi Arabia has yet to show any sustained interest. Shalom says: “With Riyadh Season being introduced in the past 18 months, women’s boxing has gone from the shining light of the sport to taking a bit of a back seat. Friday’s event is about kickstarting the power of women’s boxing again.”
The best female fighters are exceptional athletes but the depth of talent in women’s boxing is worryingly shallow. John Sheppard, who runs BoxRec, the definitive public record of professional boxing, pointed out in 2023 that the four main sanctioning bodies had created 1,380 female titles in 15 weight divisions. There were 1,909 active female boxers then and, as two are needed for a fight, it translated to the equivalent of 1.4 titles for each pro female bout.
Rosie Eccles, who fought at the Paris Olympics, rejected the chance to turn pro and is looking ahead to the 2026 Commonwealth Games. She cited the lack of quality in the paid ranks as a crucial factor. “I agree with her reasons,” Ngamba says, “and it’s hard to find promoters you can trust and there’s a lot of backstabbing in pro boxing. It’s not pure.”
Price says: “Internationally, many of the best amateurs are not turning pro. Kellie Harrington [the Irish fighter who won gold in Tokyo and Paris] got paid more as an amateur. The Turkey team get blocks of gold, cars, big money when they win tournaments. Same with Kazakhstan. There are great female fighters out there, but, for them, there’s more money in the amateurs.”
With so many amateur fighters choosing to represent their country, the elite pros often struggle to find adequate competition. “My weight probably has the best fights,” Price says, “but as you go up, there’re not many. [Elite super-middleweights] Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields are not tested often.”
Shields is probably the best female fighter in the world and last month became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in women’s boxing. Yet, according to BoxRec, there are 17 licensed pros in the division and nine share five victories between them.
This dearth of talent means Ngamba can make her debut on Friday against the European champion. It is a non-title bout but Bavington, a decent operator with a humdrum record of nine wins in 16 fights, will surely be outclassed.
A few weeks ago, at Price’s and Ngamba’s base at GB Boxing’s headquarters in Sheffield, I watched an outstanding sparring session. They shared eight rounds as accomplished as they were fiery. It was a reminder that the Royal Albert Hall show carries real significance and the main fight between Price and Jonas could be a classic example of a fighter in her prime, with the Welshwoman being 10 years younger, facing a revered veteran at the right time.
For one night, hopefully, we can set aside the lingering concerns and uncertainty and just revel in the power and potential of women’s boxing.
